It isn't romantic to discuss bird seed purchases or office decor. But when a couple share both a home and business, mundane details can be part of their closeness.

Chiropractors and spouses Scott Chapman and Carol DeFranca just expanded their business into a new office in Hingham, a stressful move that involved scores of decisions, major and minor.

"Even with picking the colors, I wanted him to be part of it and know what's happening," DeFranca said. "We kept each other up to date, even though we divvied up responsibilities."

Similarly, Steve and Pam French, who own Wild Birds Unlimited in Hanover, see the details as essential to their partnership.

"Any decision we make is done jointly," Steve said. "We don't always agree, but we work things out."

Husbands and wives run about 1.4 million businesses in the United States, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Whether they start the business together or join a family business, they face the same challenges: working out differences of opinion and approach, coping with business stress, and providing respite where they are together as a couple, not as business partners.

It can be a daunting way to live, inconceivable for some spouses who prefer to separate the personal from the professional. But happy couples say their joint ventures – where they see each other in action and receive support from each other – enhance their appreciation and connection.

"People say, 'I don't get how you work with your husband all the time and then go home with him,'" DeFranca said. "But it was a very natural evolution for us, and it's what we love."

What follows are stories of husbands and wives who are each other's Valentine at home and work: chiropractors who collaborated professionally before they married, and store owners who purchased their business after many years of marriage.

Carol DeFranca and Scott Chapman

A Florida hurricane forced Carol DeFranca and Scott Chapman to cancel and reschedule their wedding in 1998, so the couple, who have two young children, were relieved that last week's snowstorm didn't throw off the move to their new and expanded office, Enhanced Integrated Wellness in Hingham.

"We've come through a major rebranding process and been under a lot of stress," said Chapman, 50. "But we've worked together well. I took on responsibilities that are in my skill set and Carol worked on her end. Understanding who we are and how we operate has helped us get through it."

DeFranca and Chapman, who opened their practice in 1999 in Norwell, have been a team for nearly all their professional lives, even teaching and lecturing together during their chiropractic doctoral training before they married 15 years ago. They see their marriage as "a constant work in progress" and take a marriage course together each year.

Page 2 of 3 - "Everything in our life is tied up with each other, so it makes absolute sense to regularly invest in each other," Chapman said. "Business has its unique stressors, and we are more resilient because our personal relationship takes priority."

That means they embrace each other's differences. DeFranca is detailed-oriented, while Chapman takes a big picture approach; she gets energized in the evening, he starts to shut down then. She has a harder time discussing things; he is the more ready communicator.

"We don't always mesh, but our goal is to be considerate and listen to each other," Chapman said.

And they help each other in ways that might be harder if they weren't so familiar with the challenges.

"There are times when we've felt super confident, and times we've boosted each other up when we felt something was too big and scary," Chapman said.

They realize, too, that they need sometimes to shut business out of their North Pembroke home.

"We love what we do so much, but it's a challenge to find a balance between our patient care, us, and our kids, and now our move," said DeFranca, 48. "Sometimes we need to step away."

That's when they hike and ski, play board games and take a vacation. They have dinner with their children, ages 8 and 10, nearly every night.

"At the end of the day, we come together as a family," DeFranca said. "I honestly feel like it's Valentine's Day almost every day."

Steve and Pam French

When you own a store, it's a mistake to stock items customers don't buy. Steve French, who bought Wild Birds Unlimited nearly two years ago with his wife, Pam, thought her desire to sell earrings was a little "bird-brained," until he realized she had hawk-like vision.

"I was dead set against it," he said. "I thought, who would buy earrings at a birding store? I was very surprised. Let me tell you, I've been wrong."

Sitting across from Steve in the back of their Hanover store, Pam responded, "We've both been wrong."

That self-awareness, tolerance and communication are crucial to the fulfillment each has found in their personal and work relationship.

The Frenches, who have been married for nearly 29 years and live in Hanson, bought the store nearly two years ago because they wanted to work for themselves and to work together. For the first year, Steve, 58, kept his job as executive director of IT, but in July he joined Pam, 55, full-time in running the store.

"During the work week, we hardly ever saw each other," she said. "Now, it's such a relief for me that he is here. After being married for so long, we usually know what each other is thinking, and we can talk about things at any time. But if one of us isn't ready to talk about something, we wait."

Page 3 of 3 - They also balance each other. In their free time, Pam loves to quilt, sew and cook, while Steve likes to be active outdoors. Though they share decisions, Pam generally is responsible for the store inventory, customers, and layout, while Steve handles the finances and computer issues, as well as leads bird walks and repairs bird feeders.

"I am more conservative, and she sees the potential and is willing to take more of a risk," Steve said. "I don't think I had a full appreciation for what she did before I saw her in action."

Although they met when Pam was an administrative assistant and Steve was a computer programmer at Little, Brown and Company in 1984, this is their first time working together, with the exception of raising their 26-year-old son.

There is the stress of not knowing how much money will come in each month, compared to the security of set salaries. Yet, Steve said he is more relaxed now that he is in charge, and Pam said she has more fun than she ever had at other jobs.

"In spite of the hard work and stress and lack of sleep, this is the most fun I've had in a job," she said. "I don't know whether it's that we are in control, or the customers I love, or working with Steve," she said. "But it's great."